Steps and Ladders

Before I delve into the crux of the matter, I would like to remind you that I have teamed up with Ottawa photography Garry Black to offer two new workshops this summer. Please visit our workshop page to learn more.

I make the hike to the Wilson Mill in the Gatineau Park on a regular basis; likely ten or fifteen times a years. So, I know it pretty much like the back of my hand (though I’d really be lying to you if I said I really knew the back of my hand that well). While hiking there a few years back, I noticed a number of trees bunched up in one section of the trail. Very striking trees really: tall and dark, with very unique branch patterns, lined up pretty much like ladders on the side of the forest. Where these ladders take you is a matter for another day.

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While the scene in and of itself was rather striking, I knew that taken in the summer or fall, it would be very difficult to render in a way that really highlighted the shape of these trees. What I needed was a clean, prisitine setting; a setting devoid of all distractions. Snow would be the ideal companion; but not just any snow. Fresh, heavy snow that would be wet enough to stick to these tiny branches. The snow would not only clean up the background, but provide just the perfect backdrop to make the trees pop out of the scene.

When the perfect conditions finally materialised last week-end, I simply knew what I had to do. I grabbed my favourite photo-buddy (by that I mean the only one willing to drag is sorry but out in the cold), Justin, to come along for the ride, and we headed out to said trail. It took me more tries than I care to admit to get the composition right, but I am pretty happy with the final results. The image I had first previsualised was the pano above, but I think the image below works even better.

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I have just started a collaboration with photoshelter that will allow you to purchase prints or license images directly, via an ecommerce platform. If you are interested in either of these images, simply click on them and the link will take you directly there.